Ogilvy PR wins Specsavers’ earned communications work
Specsavers Ogilvy team
Optical and audiology brand Specsavers has hired Ogilvy PR as its new communications agency partner.
The move leaves Ogilvy responsible for the brand’s earned integrated communications in the Australian and New Zealand markets. In NZ, Ogilvy collaborated with Auckland-based One Plus One to develop a team to operate for Specsavers in that market.
Ogilvy will work alongside Specsavers’ creative agency TBWA and media agency Essencemediacom to strengthen the brand’s connection and presence in the ANZ region. It is also expected to work closely with Specsavers’ in-house communications and marketing teams.
Ogilvy’s appointment sees Specsavers part ways with its former PR agency partners Health Haus, Mango NZ and AMPR. The latter was handed the brand’s “style and quality” PR account in 2019 after a pitch process.
Anri McHugh, head of awareness and consideration at Specsavers ANZ, thanked the eye health company’s previous partner agencies in a media release.
“We would like to thank our incumbent PR agency partners – Mango NZ, AMPR, and Health Haus,” McHugh said.
“We’ve had some unforgettable times with our incumbents through relationships spanning several years and many campaigns – from the launch of local and international designer glasses collections with Collette Dinnigan, Alex Perry and international icons like Elton John and Kylie, to launching yearly limited edition glasses collections in support of The Fred Hollows Foundation AU and NZ, to putting eye tests on the agenda for parents of children aged 4 to 8 across the Tasman.”
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In the same release, McHugh explained that Specsavers decided to partner with Ogilvy because of the agency’s strategic approach to earned-first initiatives and chemistry with the brand.
“After a close-run pitch process, we selected Ogilvy for its earned-first strategic approach and commitment to fresh creative thinking, collaboration and shared values,” he said. “We are very excited about what we can deliver together to ensure the Specsavers brand continues to change people’s lives through better sight and hearing.”
Ogilvy PR Australia’s group managing director, Daniel Young, said the partnership between his agency and its newest client will be foundational in delivering impactful work.
“Specsavers is a brand that’s not only loved by customers but is highly sought after given its appetite for bold, exciting work,” he said.
“From our very first conversations, it was clear that we share a culture that puts people and creative ambition at the heart of everything we do.
“That alignment, teamed with our expertise across earned creativity, social and influence will be the foundation for daring, innovative, and culturally resonant work that delivers real impact.”
The agency’s first pieces of work for Specsavers are expected to enter the market later this year.
Ogilvy PR’s signing of Specsavers comes more than one month after it picked up Tourism New Zealand as a client in July, having been announced as the tourism organisation’s Australian PR agency of record.
Close to two weeks prior to the announcement, local chief executive officer of Ogilvy Health and Ogilvy PR, Richard Brett, had his remit expanded.
Brett was named president of Ogilvy PR Asia Pacific, coinciding with the departure of Emily Poon who had occupied the role for the last five years.
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